RICHARD AND THE FROG.

Kaikoura Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 39, 13 May 1924, Page 4

RICHARD AND THE FROG.

I (By

"E.B.," in Manchester Guardian.)

■ Between the fowlhouse and the fence i at the bottom of the garden is a rough stretch of ground, sunken and overi grown with weeds, a waste almost uni known to the grown-up inmates of the I house. It. is the haunt of the children j for such adventurous gmes as are not i likely to receive the approval of the ■ Olympians, and so cannot be played on : the lawn or in the shrubberies under j the windows. j It was to this spot that Richard. ; aged eight, made his way, wheeling i a dilapidated cart containing an assortment of toys likely to prove necessary for the enjoyment of his solitary games. Nominally he was in the care of Cook for the afternoon, but she had given him a handful of raisins and told him to be a good boy and play in the garden; which, excepting the r: • •sins, was what Richard thought she would do. He was inventing a new game as ho trailed his I cart down the path, a game in which aeroplanes and Red Indians mingled in warfare, with himself playing the exciting but complicated part of leader for both sides. It was necessary for the side ho captained to be victorious. Richard was staunch to his old love the Red Indians, yet he knew that the aeroplanes must win. It was an absorbing ■ problem. ! Arrived at the haunt, he overturned I. the cart and sat down upon it, eating ! his raisins and surveying the jumble of j toys at his feet. They were all battered • and worn with many months of hard service, yet it would have been hard to tell whether Richard’s affection for them, or his periods of neglect Lad been most destructive. A sudden feeling of discouragement clouded his mind as he straightened them out. They looked so passive and inert. Now that the time had come to play his new game he found his interest exhausted and his eagerness evaporated, lie had lived in it too intensely for a few magical moments. In a flash he realised how inanimate they were, how very wooden. They could never be alive unless he made them live. It depressed him. He felt sorry for them, but rot sorry enough to console them. Staring moodily into the tangle of weeds and grass, he wondered if he might find a ladybird crawling up a blade of grass. Something moved in a tuft, of weed, a living brown thing. He leaned forward, shooting out his hand, and caught it as it leaped. Breathlessly he closed his lingers around the captive, then, pulling his overall down to his knees, he let the creature loose in his lap. It was a little frog, with a suggestion of tail and curious legs, not long grown from the tadpole stage. Its wrinkled, speckled skin, and the strange way it opened and closed its gem-like eyes fascinated Richard. The ridiculous beauty of it made him want to laugh. He ’ touched it tenderly, with a certain fear. ■ Though sjpall it was mysterious, and 1 its eyes had a disquieting effect. What i should he do with it? {Should he save , it until Edward came home, or should : he share it with Cook ? Edward’s return at teatime seemed so far away, and Richard always lived in the present. He was eager for others to appreciate this precious find. His joy must be shared. He had his doubts about Cook. Her ! enthusiasm could not always be reckon I cd on. But this was no ordinary occasion. She hud been kind to give him the

raisins, and he remembered the lit lie birthday cake with the sugared top she had made him for his birthday. A mind so-brimful of delight could only contain for a second or two the doubt Hint she would not share the joy with an eagerness to match his. Cook was resting in the rocking-chair when Richard entered the kitchen, her arms folded in contentment in the peace of the afternoon. The kettle was singing on the lire for her afternoon cup of tea. She spoke Io him with that false note of sweetness which would have been a warning Io him if ho had not been so tremulous with joy. He approached on tiptoe, liis. face lit up in anticipation of the delight his discovery would cause them both. "See what I’ve got!’’ he whispered, and let the frog loose in her lap. For one second (here was silence, then she jumped up in horror as the frightened creature hopped desperately about her dress . The thought came to her that Richard was playing a. prank. "You naughty boy!" she shouted at him, and picking up the frog between het finger and thumb, threw shuddcringly out of the open door. /"The ugly little beast!" she said, and brushed her dress with her hands to rid herself of all trace >f it. Richard stood astounded. There was something complacent in her attitude now she had recovered from the hock, a suggestion I hat* by despising he frog and thrusting it from her she ad done an act to be proud of. She ven began to smile indulgent I,’. as :-he lined her com fori able bulk from the loor to look at Richard, it made passion surge upwards within him so that lie had no control of it. He. flung him .self upon her wildly, beating passionate hands in futile efforts to pound her out of an attitude of siipcriojily I bat was maddening. It. was a losing light, rendered all the more humiliating to Richard when he heard Cook remark that she liked a boy of spirit. In the end, Authority came down heavily, and demanded retribution, so Richard went early to bed. It was not until next day that he was able to make a passionless statement of the affair to Edward, ami when he did it clinched the matter once and for ail. His opinion of Cook remained unhanged forever after. "1 think, Edvard," he said, with the air of delivering a well-considered opinion, "th:U Cook is the stupidest woma.i world. ’ ’